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Monday, April 24, 2017

Review: "The Void" is boring, unscary tripe

The Void Review

I figured since 2017 has been such a strong year for horror, that the trend would keep going. So little did I know.

"The Void" has all the ingredients for a good horror movie. There is a creepy cult, there are survivors stuck in one place bearing together for a siege, there are crazy looking monsters. All of this could have equated to a worthwhile and even horrifying experience. The film had quite the opening. As two people run out of a house, one man, one woman. The woman gets shot, and the man takes off running. Two men with guns walk out of the house, and while the woman is still alive, they drench her in gasoline and set her on fire, alive. Its a chilling, matter-of-fact beginning and I was already on board.

Too bad the rest of this thankfully short film didn't fire on the same cylinders as its beginning. This is a movie full of actors who can't act, full of characters with no development, its thriller with no thrills and a scary movie with no scares. The cast includes Aaron Poole, Ellen Wong, Kenneth Walsh, Art Hindel and Kathleen Munroe. I can't tell you a single thing about these actors, and after their work in this movie. Perhaps there is a reason for that.

With super monsters and a evil cult and a hospital siege. There are many moments of this movie that feel like there are too many cooks in the kitchen. I can't tell you how many writers brought this thing together, and honestly, I really don't care. Its pretty clear that they couldn't find their way around a script. Actually, that almost feels a little too hard to say. I mean, they did write a killer (pun totally intended) opening sequence to this movie. Sadly, the rest of the movie never quite hits that level of intensity. The rest of the movie is totally and completely devoid of scares or even a single memorable performance.